Just want to be normal
by Rykani
Summary: A couple years after the girls got to begin to live their lives without being Scouts, something else comes along, and shatters it all. Based on a dream... Chapter 8 now up! Soon to END!
1. Just a feeling

Author's notes : I know very well none of this follows the Sailor Moon plot... only the fact that the characters are in it... but they're not where they should be... or anything. It's based on a dream, and we all know how dreams are, right? It doesn't help I missed a lot of episodes in the later series... sigh. Oh well. Here you go. ^_^ And of course... I don't own Sailor Moon, but no one owns my dreams... :P JUST ME! Nyah hahaha.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
The sun was shining, everyone was happy. When the sun wasn't out, the moon was sparkling, and the stars danced. Why couldn't it have stayed that way? The sun stayed shining, the birds kept singing, and the kids kept playing... but THEY had to stop and forget their happiness.  
  
  
"Darien, do you feel that?" Serena asked, her blue eyes drooping with worry. She'd gotten older... Older than she was in her scout days. Not by much, but those days felt so far behind now. It had been peaceful for so long. At first they were all hesitant to relax, but as of the past year, they almost had forgotten what it was like to have to transform into their other selves.  
  
"Just try to not sense it... maybe it's just something passing through. Maybe it's something we can't change. Maybe... Maybe we should give the other girls a call." Darien sighed, hugging his girl closer to him. They were having such a nice calm walk through a simple park. On vacation no less. Now, if it were what it felt like, they'd have to go back home. "Did you feel that?"  
  
Serena winced, nodding slowly. "It's closer. And stronger. Let's hurry Darien, I want to go home. LUNA!"  
  
Luna raced up to the couple, and jumped onto the shoulder of the girl. The three seemed to just vanish in a blur, running to the place where they were staying at. No one around noticed, just carrying about their business. Who has time to notice anything these days?  
  
  
"Amara? Am I doing this right?" Molly muttered, while dropping a pot of pasta into the sink, and having it all slosh over the side, "NEVERMIND!"  
  
"Looks like you were around Serena too long." Amara smirked, "Just let it sit there and cool, the sink's clean enough."  
  
The pair are still back in Japan. Since Michelle died, the other girls though it a good idea for Amara to live with someone new. The two didn't click right away, as was expected. Amara and Michelle were so close... Time went on though, and the two wound up living together. Molly had left Melvin, and needed someone too, so it was the best match anyone could see.  
  
While Molly still tried to scoop the fallen pasta back into the pot, despite what was told of her, Amara fell forward off of the couch she was sitting on. Looking over at her housemate, she was glad Molly didn't see what happened. The tall blonde quickly slipped back on her spot on the couch, and rubbed the back of her head, a harsh feeling ripping through her. It felt as if someone had smacked her with a concrete block. Then the voice... The voice had been silent for a long time... Michelle's...  
  
(Sorry Amara... You haven't been listening. Did death cause us to lose our link?)  
  
"..." Amara didn't know what to think back, causing a laugh from the voice inside her head. "I'm sorry... I suppose I just didn't want to hear it. It's been hard. Harder than I expected..."  
  
(I know, it's been hard for me too. Especially when you would ignore me.) Michelle's voice went silent for a moment, as if she was thinking about what to say, wherever she was... (Nevermind though, I've been trying to reach you. A spirit from here has gotten loose. A horrible one. It's headed straight for earth. Your time. Serena and Darien have sensed it already. It's only a matter before the others do.)  
  
Amara closed her eyes, and nodded a little, folding her hands over her knees, ignoring the sounds of Molly screaming as she scalded her hands.  
  
(Amara, you're not going to be able to do this without another scout. With me and Hotaru unable to fight again, you'll need another.)  
  
"But who?" But she already knew the answer...  
  
(Heh, I'm surprised by you. Give her my...")  
  
"NO!" Amara screamed aloud, making Molly fall back, throwing fistfuls of pasta into the air.  
  
"I'm sorry! I'll leave the rest alone!" Molly cried, getting up from the floor.  
  
The voice was gone. Michelle always knew when to give up, but she also knew when she had gotten her point through anyway. Amara would teach Molly what to do. How to do it. Why she had to do it...  
  
  
The rest of the girls were fairly unchanged. Lita was still boy crazed, Rei was still trying to keep control of the other girls, Ami was still buried in books, and Mina was still a video game addict. Minus having to occasionally change into the Sailor Scouts, nothing was much different. Save the fact they were all a bit older now. Maybe it was these slight changes in their lives while they were Scouts, maybe it was the fact they were all still very close, maybe... maybe a lot of things. But whatever it was, they all felt the presence of something headed towards them, at the exact same time. Lita while scoping out boys at the mall, Rei while doing a fire reading at the temple, Ami while in the library, and Mina while fighting the evil forces of pixels at the local arcade. All four of them, out of old forced habit, dropped what they were doing, and quickly congregated outside of Rei's temple. None of them could understand what had drawn them to do this, and especially since despite their closeness, they were in contact just a little less these days.  
  
The second one to get there was Mina, the first obviously being Rei. She flew up the stairs, panting and having Artemis cling to her shoulder for dear life. Rei looked fairly shocked to see the blonde haired girl and her cat headed towards her. She thought she was the only one to remember...  
  
"REI! Did you feel it..." Before she could finish her thought, Mina knew by the look on Rei's face that she had felt it too.  
  
"I did. I'm surprised you did. Do you think the others..."  
  
As if in response to that, Lita came barreling up the steps, with Ami following a moment after, dragging a bookbag behind her.  
  
"Just like old days, huh guys? And look at that, Serena's late again!" Lita laughed, panting hard, and bending over to catch her breath.  
  
The other girls laughed, but quickly hushed up when Artemis began to speak, "Girls, I know it's been a long time, but the time has come again. The earth needs the Sailor Scouts again."  
  
They all stared at the white cat for a long while, not saying anything. Obviously they all had things to think about, questions they had to ask themselves, questions they wanted to ask, but were unsure of...  
  
"We have to do it..." Ami whispered, staring at the ground. She, like the others, had started to get used to this new life, but someone had to say what they were all thinking.  
  
"Yea..." The other girls whispered. Without really thinking about it, they all formed a circle, and each put a hand into the centre. They stood like that for some time, until the nice bright morning sky turned gray, and the raindrops began to fall. They moved into Rei's room, just in time to have the phone ringing.  
  
"Hello?" Rei answered, not expecting a phonecall.  
  
When a squeal eminated through the phone, all of the girls heard, and started to laugh, it was Serena, "REI! I never thought I would say this, but I miss you!"  
  
Rei blushes and throws the phone to Ami, who drops a book in order to catch it, "Hello Serena, we're all here. How is your vacation?" She hoped that maybe Serena hadn't felt what the others had all felt...  
  
"It WAS great, until me and Darien got this icky creepy feeling. Wait, are you all at the temple? That would explain why you all IGNORED me..."  
  
Ami blinked and rubbed at her forehead, "We weren't ignoring you Serena. Yes, we're all here. Are you coming home? Artemis thinks we have to become the Scouts again."  
  
A loud sobbing from the phone made Ami hold it as far away from her as possible, wincing. When the horrible sound ended, Ami brought the phone back to her ear, "It's not so bad Serena..."  
  
"We were starting to be NORMAL! It's not fair!"  
  
A click. She had hung up.  
  
"Same old Serena..." Ami whispered, handing the phone back to Rei.  
  
"Well, is she coming home?" Lita asked, while curling up on a pillow.  
  
"I don't know. If Darien has anything to say about it, I'm sure we'll see her soon." Ami shrugged.  
  
This was a lot for all of them, not just Serena. Though, it was probably worse for her, especially since she was the one to actually watch two of the scouts die. Two of the scouts that were there to protect her...  
  
~~~~~~~  
  
_ *cough* HAHAHAHA... I know it's inconsistant with EVERYTHING... but know what? I DON'T CAAAAAAAAAAAAARE. Nyah nyah. :P lol... The second part should be up ASAP, since I'm writing it down all as fast as I can... Go dreams go! 


	2. Memories, Learning, and Someone new?

Author's Notes : Blah blah blah, I don't own Sailor Moon... i dunno who does... but good for them. Anyway, yes, this is a dream, and no, it's not consistant with the series at all. My dreams dislike me, and make as little sense as possible. Jooooy to me. ^_^  
  
~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Before they were really set free for a while of their Scout duties, the girls had yet another problem to take on. Seemed that a Serena in an alternate reality had done something to shift the dimensions around, which resulted in this reality's scouts meeting up with a set of Scouts from another reality that were pretty much all out evil. They, in their own reality, were all crazy, and had a lust for blood worse than anything seen before. All of the Scouts in this reality had to stop them, before they killed anyone... But they weren't fast enough, and the insane Scouts managed to wipe out at least 100 people, and wound countless others. A lot of people mistook them for the REAL Scouts for a time, until the real ones fought back...  
  
Serena had taken on such injury from her alternate self, that the others had agreed to take turns watching after her. It was Sailor Neptune and Sailor Saturn who had been put on watch... When the others came. It was horrible. All of the alternate Scouts had figured out where Serena was being kept, and attacked. Serena watched helplessly as her protectors fought and defended her, all in vain. It was just too much, and the others couldn't get there fast enough. Fortunately for Serena, Ami had been working on figuring out a way to fix the time rift with the help of Trista. Fortunately for Serena, the other Scouts had been shifted back to their own dimension. Fortunately for Serena, she lived... The wounds healed, and she was able to handle herself again...  
  
She never forgot what it was like to watch two of her friends die. Even if she didn't know them as long as the others, it still affected her horribly. Most likely because of the fact they were doing it for HER. Whatever it was... She was so affected by it, that she swore she'd never let anyone protect her again. When Darien made hints at them getting married, she started to turn cold, so he dropped it, and they remained as just girlfriend and boyfriend. Even that seemed to be too much for her at times though...  
  
It had been over two years, and just now things seemed to be normal. Why did something have to be happening again? It just wasn't fair...  
  
  
Serena thought about all this, and much more, while on her flight back home. Then entire time, she stared out the window. Ignoring her food, ignoring when most everyone else was asleep, ignoring Darius when he tried to talk to her. She had been doing so much better, and now everything that had happened was going to come back to her in a flood. No time to get used to the idea again, just BANG, back to being a Scout, having to do everything.  
  
When she almost started to fall into a welcomed sleep, a sharp pain ripped through her head, making her want to scream, but she held it back as well as she could. She looked at Darien, who was wide awake at that point, and looking white as a ghost. He felt it too then.  
  
"Darien..?"  
  
Nothing. She tried again, putting a hand on his arm, "Darien?"  
  
He looked at her, and shook his head, "This is going to be worse than the others... I'd ask you to not fight, but..."  
  
"I have to..." She finished for him.  
  
The pair sat in silence for a while, until Serena felt something else. Not a sense of foreboding... instead, of someone watching her. Her eyes scanned over the seats, and saw a brunette ponytail move, as if the person who owned it had just turned back around. Serena smiled a bit... That hairstyle reminded her of Lita. But Lita, nor any of the other girls could be on the flight. Whoever that was, was a stranger. And they had been watching her. She decided to wait until they got off of the plane to find out who her mystery watcher was, not wanting to upset Darien... He put up with so much from her already, and now all this business of a new threat. She really didn't want to make him think she was crazy on top of it all.  
  
Serena looked at Darien, who was asleep again, and decided to try to do the same, nuzzling her head into his chest, and closing her eyes, ignoring the feelings she was having. The feeling of being watched returned, but went away when she finally gave in to severly needed sleep.  
  
  
  
On a fairly well lit basketball court, Amara and Molly came together, for Amara to spring her news on Molly. It seemed to be a good place, as no kids really visited it. It was the place of a horrible murder a few years earlier, and most parents would warn their children about going there after sunset. Since it was well past midnight, Amara knew they wouldn't be interrupted.  
  
"Why'd we have to come out here... I'm tired Amara..." Molly whined, hugging herself, wishing she'd worn more than a thin sweater and jeans.  
  
"This is important. Molly, I'm a Sailor Scout. Do you remember those?"  
  
Molly just stared at the other girl for a long while, forgetting how cold she was. The puddle she was standing in seemed to go dry, and everything wasn't what it had been. "Yeah..."  
  
"Serena is one too, and the other girls."  
  
After a moment of silence... "Why... Why are you telling me?"  
  
"We need you, to take the..."  
  
(Tell her, Amara...)  
  
"To take the place of..."  
  
(You can do it...)  
  
"To take the place of Sailor Neptune."  
  
(I'm proud of you...)  
  
Molly blinked, and shook her head, taking a step back, "Oh, but I know what happened to her... I know what you all have to do... I... I can't..."  
  
"Do you think any of us had a choice!? We need you Molly, and you can't say no. I brought you out here to show you how to do it. Not to have you run away on me. Something's coming, and without your help, we all might just as well lay down and DIE."  
  
Blinking again, and clenching her fists, Molly lowered her head, looking as if she was going to attack Amara. Instead, when she raised her head, she whispered quietly, "What do I have to do..."  
  
Without a word, Amara stuffed a transformation pen into Molly's fist, even though it was still clenched, and steps back, crossing her arms. She and the other, very lost girl, just stand there, in the own separate poses... Amara looking very upset, and Molly looking like she still wanted to beat up the other girl.  
  
"Hold it up. Say whatever first comes to mind. Don't worry when you don't know what to say at first, it'll come to you." Amara leaned against a basketball hoop's post, and watched the younger girl, while she did as instructed.  
  
Molly threw her hand up holding the transformation pen, and stood there for a moment, closing her eyes. When nothing could come to her mind, she just stood there... waiting... waiting...  
  
(Amara, maybe you should tell her to say mine...)  
  
(You know it wouldn't work... She'll figure it out.)  
  
(If you're sure, then...)  
  
"TALITHA... POWER!"  
  
(Guess you were right this time... Good luck, tell her good luck from me. When she can begin to understand... Not now. Focus. Train. You don't have much time...)  
  
Molly started to go through an intense change, when she finally spoke her Scout name. She rose off of the grounds several feet, and her entire body glowed. Her clothes tore away, into a hidden dimension pocket, and her black and gold Sailor clothes appeared on her body. Her body itself began to change... her curves became more defined, more mature... Her legs grew longer, and even her skin changed from the pale shade of white, into a deep dark tan. Probably the most extreme change happened when her normally short red hair grew about as long as she was now tall, and changed to a dark brown colour, with a streak of blonde. After a complete transformation, her feet finally touched down on the ground, and she opened her now light gray eyes.  
  
"Sailor Talitha?" Amara whispered, semi-disillusioned by what she just saw happen before her. Transformations were never this extreme... "Molly? Is that you?"  
  
"Yea..." The other girl whispered, then clapped a hand to her mouth. "That's not my voice!" she yelped though her fingers.  
  
"I guess re-using the same transformation pen can have some odd results... We've never tried this before." Amara laughed, studying Sailor Talitha.  
  
The poor girl blushed, and lowered her head, only to gasp in surprise, "I ACTUALLY HAVE A CHEST!"  
  
"Yes, yes you do..."  
  
More blushing.  
  
"You can change back now, if you want. We're supposed to go help the other girls meet up with Serena at the airport in a few hours. May as well get a few hours of sleep in."  
  
"How..." Before the question could really start, Sailor Talitha began to change back into Molly, much to both girls disappointment. "Oh."  
  
"Just think about it enough, and it'll happen. C'mon kid, I think you'll do fine."  
  
The pair start back along their route home, with Amara having thoughts of the girl that Molly could now become... Maybe after this new threat was taken care of...  
  
(AMARA!)  
  
(...What!?)  
  
(Nothing... Good luck. He's almost there........)  
  
Silence.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~  
  
o_O; Meh hehehe. It seems this is going to be a mix of two dreams I had now. Hoorah! The boyfriend had better be happy about this fact... Whoot. No one'll understand til later... so... uhm... better keep reading, kids! :D Oh, and btw... Talitha is the name of a star... :P 


	3. So many voices

Author's Notes :... Still don't own Sailor Moon... _ I now own Sailor Talitha though! :D Nye-aaaah hahaha. No, that wasn't her name in my dream... but I didn't remember it... so... meh. Good enough. Tra lalala. Oh... and sorry if it all seems kinda awkward... I'm used to writing in present tense, not past tense. It's a lot easier for me... i dunno why, but it is. :P SO THERE! ... ... ... ................ _ okay, well, nothing to see here, carry on, carry on... read the story...  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
He hadn't chosen this, he'd rather have stayed home. Why was he coming to Japan? The voices told him to. He always listened to the voices. As long as it didn't get him into too much trouble. The biggest problem that would come out of leaving Canada, and taking a flight to Japan, was skipping work and wasting more money than he could afford. The voices didn't care. They would help him figure a way to manage anyway.  
  
He didn't know Japanese. He didn't know anything about the city they were leading him to. He didn't understand what they meant by using his powers. What powers? He didn't have any. They told him he'd understand when the time came. He accepted it, as he always did.  
  
The voices told him the girl was on the same flight as him. He watched her. She was really pretty... with some guy. Hopefully this wasn't the reason he was sent here. He didn't want to have to hurt anyone. The girl looked scared. Was the guy hurting her? Was his job to stop the guy? That would be easy. The voices never told him to do anything that was easy.  
  
No, that wasn't it. The voices told him she was sort of like him. Special. She had powers too. Maybe he did too, they didn't care. It was the girl who mattered. The girl.  
  
He didn't even get to say goodbye to his friends... They wouldn't notice him missing anyway. They were used to him going missing days, weeks, even months at a time. He never explained, and they gave up asking. All that mattered was that he eventually came back, and was there to drink with them again. Heh, maybe that's what invited the voices in. More likely, he was just more in tune with things after the accident... Either way, they were here, and now he was flying hours and hours away from home, because of them.  
  
Stupid voices.  
  
  
  
"Lita, did you bring the cookies?" Mina asked, while trying to control her hair, which was blowing wildly in the wind.  
  
"And brownies too." Lita answered, popping one of her own treats into her mouth.  
  
"Those are for Serena!" Rei yelled, but was ignored.  
  
All of the girls managed to pile into Amara's car, and the tight space is rather upsetting the entire lot of them. "QUIET! Or I'm dropping you all off on the side of the road!"  
  
Silence quickly fell over the car, except for the loud roar of the engine, while Amara peeled over the highway for the airport. They were going to be late... She HATED being late. But no, they all insisted on buying presents, and baking junk, and this, that and everything else. Acting like they hadn't just seen the princess the week before. Acting like they didn't remember WHY their princess was coming back. Amara spent the time the others wasted, talking to Molly, and trying to prepare her mentally. She knew it would all be up to Molly in the end, but it didn't hurt to try a little.  
  
"RIGHT OR LEFT!?" Amara screamed, when she realized there was a turn ahead, and didn't know which way to go.  
  
"LEFT! LEFT!" the other girls all screamed together, save for Molly. Apparently she was still trying to get used to everything, and not being her usually somewhat bubbly self.  
  
A sharp turn that made all the girls go slamming into each other, then a jerk forward as Amara abused the gas pedal some more, then a whole lot of engine screams, and they were there. Freedom!  
  
All of the girls, except for Amara who could handle her own driving, just sat there, eyes huge and mouths gaping, while Amara parked with ease, and slipped out of the driver's seat. "Coming?"  
  
They all slowly piled out into the parking lot, and staggered towards the door, getting more than a few stares from the other people who were there. The only one to stay in the car was Molly, and it was then that Amara realized it probably wasn't the ride that had gotten her shook up... "Hey, you okay in there?"  
  
"Huh..? Oh, we're here? Sorry... I..."  
  
"Heh. It's okay. Come on, wanna go see Serena?"  
  
"Uh huh..." Molly mumbled mindlessly, undoing her seatbelt as slowly as she could, and crawling out of the car at a snail's pace. Not liking being even more late, despite her pity for the girl, Amara scooped up Molly over one shoulder, and raced into the airport after the other girls, who were probably all getting lost by this point.  
  
  
  
Well, they did all get lost, and not even together. Eventually Amara did round them all up, with Molly still slung over her shoulder. More stares. When they reached the gate that Serena and Darien were supposed to be at, they found out the plane was late. Well, at least one good thing.  
  
"Hopefully nothing's happened..." Ami whispered, standing at a window, and looking out at the noontime sky.  
  
"Probably just bad winds. Come on guys, I don't think it'd be a good idea for them to come back to us being even more worried." Lita laughed, quite fakely, while rooting through her goody bags, and frowning at the mess. Slamming around in a car wasn't good for precious cookies.  
  
Amara finally slipped Molly into a seat, only to see that she was asleep. So that's why she didn't say anything. Oh well, the night before had been hard on her, no doubt. "Heh... whatever."  
  
"Hey, I think that's them!" Ami squeaked, pointing out the window. Sure enough, the plane slowly rolled into the gate, and people eventually started to pile out.  
  
A brunette boy stopped to watch them all, and they noticed him. How couldn't they? With his long brown ponytail, his features that didn't fit in, in their country... And the way too good to be true looks.  
  
"He's MINE!" Lita yelped, dropping her goody bags onto a seat, forgetting all about sugar. She raced up to the boy, and grabbed into his old looking jacket. Alright, so maybe he wasn't dressed the best, and he could use some work on his hair, but DAMN he was fine, "HI! I'm Lita, and welcome to Japan!"  
  
"You... speak english?"  
  
"Duh. Hey, want a tour guide? Are you here on business or pleasure?" Lita squealed, pretty much mauling the poor guy.  
  
"Uhm... Sure. Why not. My name's Skipper, but everyone calls me Ski... I uh..."  
  
"Where are you staying? I have to do some stuff, but I'll meet up with you later!"  
  
"Er..."  
  
"I see, don't know where you're staying yet? Here's my number." Lita quickly scribbled her phone number onto the guy's hand, then raced back to her friends, giggling and waving.  
  
(She's another one with powers...)  
  
He blushed and waved back, looking down at his hand, trying to ignore the voices, but not able to... "There's more than one..?"  
  
(Seven of them. Worry about only the one. She's the one you're here for. Use that phone number. She'll lead you to her...)  
  
The voices had answered a question. That was new. He didn't like it. Anytime they started to do something new, they were more... prominent in his life.  
  
"Lita, why'd you talk to that guy? Do you know him?" Serena asked, watching the guy while he stared down at his hand, looking really confused. She knew he was the one who had watched her on the plane, and figured maybe he was watchign her because Lita had told him about her...  
  
"I will soon enough! I gave him my phone number!"  
  
"......." all of the girls, and Darien just stared at her, not believing she could keep this up, even now. Some things never change. Even Molly, who had been knocked out, was now staring at the crazy girl, while she slipped a hand to the back of her head and cracked up.  
  
After the initial dorkiness of the whole situation passed, the entire group headed for the exit. Serena looked back, but the guy wasn't there anymore. Maybe he wouldn't call Lita back. She didn't like the look, or feel of him... Maybe she was just too paranoid.  
  
  
  
The girls would go home. Darien would take Serena in his car, and a couple of the other girls. Amara would take some of the braver girls back in her car, and they would race. The boy though... he stayed behind... Watching them from a distance, a good distance...  
  
He didn't feel comfortable around the girls, so he ran. Their powers... if that's what it was... with them all together like that... it hurt him. He didn't know why, but it had hurt. The voices screamed, but not in pain. More like they all wanted to say something at once. That was unlike them, they were usually so... organized.  
  
This was really bad. Whatever he was sent here for, it was going to make him go more insane. And who was Skipper? That wasn't his name. Not like he could remember his real name. His friends dubbed him the nickname of Ski long ago, but it didn't stand for anything. They all named each other after sports. Stupid, really. The things eight year olds do...  
  
He had to find somewhere to stay. The voices would show him. They always did. He just wished they'd tell him the entire plan first, instead of taking it one step at a time.  
  
(Go, now, the time is coming, and you can't stay here all night.)  
  
"I can sure as hell try..." he muttered, but knew they were right. They were always right...  
  
~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Drrrrrr... *foams* No one reviews my junk... *cry* Oh well, I'll just keep writing, until someone does... or until it ends... whichever... :P Bleh bleh bleh. This is probably the fastest written story I've ever done... I don't want to forget any of it... And here I go again, starting #4... _; 


	4. More than one way to hurt

Author's Notes : Nyaaaaah... i don't own Sailor Moon, but I do own Sailor Talitha, and Ski... Skipper... HAHAHA... Skipper. Poor guy. I'm so cruel to my characters, even if it was the dream's fault, not mine. So... uhm... yea, anyway... would someone friggin review!??!?... ;_; Wah...  
  
~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Back at Rei's Temple, all of the girls had come together, like old days... only, unlike the old days, now Molly, Amara, and Darien were packed into Rei's room too. They also weren't goofing off and not doing what they came there to do, for once. Luna and Artemis roamed around the top of the tabe the humans were seated around, while everyone tried to understand what was happening.  
  
"So Michelle told you it was a spirit?" Luna lowered her head, stopping in front of Amara.  
  
"Yes, nothing else. I don't think she knows what it really was herself."  
  
"Could it be the spirit of something we already defeated?" Ami inquired, ever the bright girl of the group.  
  
"Could be... We'll just have to wait to see it to know for sure, won't we?" Rei shrugged, leaning back on her hands.  
  
"What's wrong with you, Rei?" Serena asked, seemingly mousy and quiet, especially for her.  
  
"NOTHING! But we won't, will we? No!"  
  
All the rest of the group just stared at Rei, not believing this... Sure, she acted like this to Serena all the time, but that was really uncalled for, especially knowing how Serena'd been feeling lately.  
  
"Sorry..." Serena whispered, lowering her gaze to the table, tracing a finger along the design on it.  
  
They all sat, fairly silent for a while... None of them wanting to test the others' patience. They all knew that the energy from an adversary could very well catch up to them, and this one was hitting them all. They could feel it. Rei's temper was already pretty loose, so she obviously would be hit the worst.  
  
"Whatever it is, we'll stop it, just like all the other times... right guys..?" Serena whispered, her gaze never once leaving the tabletop.  
  
"Of course, Serena, that's what friends are for!" Mina chirped, flashing a bright smile.  
  
"Yea, we're here for you." Lita piped in, flashing a 'V' with her fingers.  
  
As all the other girls, and even Darien agreed to stay in it, Serena finally raised her head, and looked to Rei, the only silent one.  
  
"Yea... whatever..."  
  
Serena smiled, and jumped over the table, wrapping her arms around her cranky friend, holding her in a tight hug, "Thank you Rei..."  
  
Rei blushed and shoved the crazy girl off of her, and back into her spot on the other side of the table, "Darien, control that girl of your's, I suggest a leash and muzzle."  
  
A nervous laugh rippled through the group. That was more like Rei's type of being mean... More out of play, than actual hate.  
  
As tense as things were, the group eventually began to joke around, and share snacks, and eventually they all moved out to the grounds of the temple. Luckily no one was really around that day, and they were free to practise quite a few things. Nothing like their Scout powers, but it helped to be able to move and such when it came to fighting as well. Darien had to leave for work, but the girls were alright with that... They could get away with some girl talk then, and really relax.  
  
In the middle of a stretch session, that more than a couple of the girls needed... they hadn't really been taking care of themselves like they used to... a ripping pain coursed through all of them, from the tops of their heads, down to the bottoms of their soles, feeling almost like a strike of lightning. Had anyone passed them by right then, they would have thought the group was having a seizure all together. No one was nearby though, no one heard their screams of pain, no one saw the looks of terror on their faces when an image ran through their heads, all at the same time.  
  
An image of their homes... all in ruins... fire everywhere, children dead everywhere... adults no where to be seen.... And a shadow... Not a real figure, just a shadow. Maybe of their new enemy. It wasn't giving off any sort of good vibes at all, and most evils have some goodness, deep down, that the girls were able to bring out. This was going to be impossible, if this was their target.  
  
Once the internal attack ended, the girls all crawled together, shaking and looking around nervously, not one of them saying a thing. It was just too graphic, even for them.  
  
"That was us, you know..." Serena whispered, finally breaking the silence.  
  
It was... The dead children... The dead children with the blood everywhere... That was them. Not all of the children, some of them they recognised as old friends, or siblings... But they were there too, and that troubled them all a lot.  
  
"Serena, I'm so sorry I never knew things were like this for you before..." Molly whispered, taking one of her friend's hands into her own, "You should have told me..."  
  
Serena smiled a bit, and put her other hand over Molly's, "Would you have believed me? Besides... it never was like this before... Not this... painful."  
  
The other girls agreed, and just cuddled up together, oddly quiet. Until Amara got up and pulled away from the group, to announce she had to go work. "If anything else happens, I'll come straight here, same with you guys, if you decide to go out and do anything."  
  
As Amara started for the steps leading down from the Temple, Rei's eyes glazed over, with one of her visions. Without even thinking, she dove from the other girls, and rushed to Amara, lunging into the air, and knocking her off her feet onto the steps.  
  
Before the older girl could protest, a large shape went flying over their heads, and slammed into the ground a little past the stairs. "That would have hit me..." Amara muttered, "Why did you put yourself in danger for me?"  
  
"You're helping us too, aren't you?"  
  
Before the two more stubborn girls of the group could show anymore of their slightly sappy side, another thing came crashing into the stairs right below them. "MOVE!" Serena's voice screamed.  
  
Rei and Amara quickly raced down the steps, with the other girls following behind. Not even working out a plan together, they jumped into Amara's car, which luckily had the top down. Another shape, which at close range looked to be a huge black rock, slammed into the trunk of the car, making the girls all scream. "HOLD ON!" Amara screamed to the others, as she threw all of her weight onto her gas pedal, killing her gears, but it didn't matter right now.  
  
They weaved in and out of light, but very angry traffic. The pedestrians on the sidewalks were far from safe, as Amara swirved through a red light at an intersection, and took a hard turn on a corner, knocking an old lady's shopping cart over. No one on the streets seemed to notice that the girls were in such a rush because a pile of mini boulders were being slamming into and around their car!  
  
Once they got out of the city, the attack seemed to end, slowing down to a few pebbles dropping every now and then. When they finally reached water, the rockstorm ended. And Amara was almost out of gas... "Damn, just bought a new tank's worth too... What the hell WAS that?" She snapped back to reality, after a moment.  
  
No one could answer though. What HAD just happened? Big rocks flying out of no where... and no one noticing it but themselves.  
  
(AMARA!)  
  
Amara jumped back at the sound of her name, realizing it was only in her head, after a second. She looked around and all the other girls had gotten out of the car, to walk along the beach, maybe it was best if they relax a little.  
  
(Michelle! What just happened?)  
  
(I have no clue... He's already there. And some boy... he's trying to find Serena. We don't know what his intentions are yet. Watch him. You already met him, but he's going to be back. We're sure he's not the spirit, it can't take human form... But look out anyway, he's a tricky spirit.)  
  
Amara just nodded to herself, closing her eyes, and leaning against her car, crossing her arms.  
  
(This would be so much easier with you Michelle...)  
  
(....)  
  
(Michelle?)  
  
(Amara, please, stop...)  
  
(But...)  
  
(No buts. You're forgetting all of our promises to each other. I almost did too, I suppose it's hard on me too, even if I'm not the one trapped there...)  
  
(Michelle...)  
  
Silence.  
  
(MICHELLE!)  
  
More silence.  
  
"MICHELLE!!" Amara screamed aloud, banging a fist into the side of her car. The other girls stopped what they were all doing, to walk over to the older girl, but quickly backed off when they saw that she was crying. The only one to dare come any closer was Molly...  
  
The others watched in silent awe, as the small red head stepped in front of the tall blonde, and tipped her chin up with a hand, looking like she was handling a piece of fragile glass. Amara looked like she was about to throw a punch or two, but instead threw her arms around Molly, in a tight embrace. Molly followed suit, and just stroked Amara's back, until she just started to sob, letting out all the feelings she had been holding back for so long. "I'm sorry... I'm sorry..." Amara whispered, burying her face into the top of Molly's head.  
  
"Shh... it's okay..."  
  
And so they stood. The other girls didn't interrupt, or say anything. None of them complained of being hungry, and none of them tried to move the two. After a good hour, the rest of them got tired, and decided to find a bus back into town, hoping it wouldn't be bombarded like the car had been just a while earlier. They eventually did find one, still not having bothered the two standing beside the car, deciding it was best.  
  
"Amara..."  
  
"Yes..?"  
  
"...Nothing." Molly whispered, then looked around, "Looks like we've been abandoned."  
  
Amara laughed, and rubbed her eyes, scanning the area, "So we have..."  
  
The two backed away from the car, and finally let go of each other. They looked towards the car, shaking their heads together at the shape it was in. All dinged up, with anything glass on it smashed up, "Looks like we're going to have to walk. I doubt any more buses will be along this late." Amara muttered, looking at her watch.  
  
"I don't mind... We can walk together."  
  
Amara smiled a little at Molly, who held out her hand, which she took.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
o_O;; Uhm. Hehe. Yea! Go me go. I dunno... I'm tired. Shhh... I go sleepy now. Write more later when brain working. *nod nod* Meow. 


	5. Birds

Author's Notes : YAAAAAY, I got a review! *dance* I didn't understand it... but I got it. ^_^ anyway... still don't own Sailor Moon, but I do own the three of the movies... _ NYAH HAHA! *cough* Still own Sailor Talitha, and Ski/Skipper. But y'all can abuse Skipper all you wanna. I know I will... *grin*  
  
~~~~~~~~~  
  
  
A flash of light.  
  
A scream. A young girl's scream.  
  
Silence.  
  
Another flash of light.  
  
No more screaming.  
  
Darkness.  
  
Darkness...  
  
Glaring light.  
  
"LUNAAAA!" Serena screamed, as her cat threw open the curtains on her. The black cat just laughed, and trotted off out the door, calling out behind her, "Your mom's making pancakes, better hurry up, lazy head."  
  
What was that? A dream? Had to be... How much of it was a dream? Was that mini attack yesterday really just a dream too? Was Michelle and Hotaru... was that all just a dream too...?  
  
She moaned, and rubbed her forehead, not wanting to think about it all right now, glad to be in her own bed again. She sighed, and stretched out, pulling her bunny printed covers up to her nose, and closed her eyes again. Maybe everything was just a dream. Maybe she wasn't really Sailor Moon. Maybe she really was normal!  
  
But then again, she knew that couldn't be possible. How could Luna talk, if things weren't like they were? Damn cat, just had to be real.  
  
Serena eventually crawled out of her bed, a bit of drool coming to the corner of her mouth, at the scent of her mom's cooking. Evil forces out to get her or not, she was hungry!  
  
  
  
"Amara..."  
  
"Mmph..."  
  
"Amara?"  
  
"Wha... Mi... Molly?" Amara blinked slowly a few times, then shoved herself across the bed she and Molly were laying on, "What the hell?"  
  
Molly's eyes lowered, and she started to whimper, "You don't want me anymore..?"  
  
Amara's face softened, and she sighed, pulling Molly into a hug... finally realizing the both of them were naked together... So that wasn't a dream, at least. "I do, I do... I just was dreaming, don't worry..."  
  
Molly smiled, and nuzzled her face into the older girl's chest, "Okay, that's nice..."  
  
Amara blushed a little, not letting Molly see though. After their ordeal the night before, the two of them had gotten... close. Really close. And though she wouldn't admit it to anyone, not even Molly, she liked it. She had a feeling that she was doing it out of spite for what Michelle had done to her, left her... but that was the least of her troubles right now.  
  
"Come on you, we have to go back to the Temple. Better we all be together as much as possible."  
  
Molly flopped back, and pouted, crossing her arms, and jutting out her bottom lip.  
  
Amara laughed a little, looking over her new young lover's body. Staring at a few select parts a bit longer than others...  
  
"Like the view?"  
  
"Huh?" Amara blinked, and laughed, brushing a hand through her hair, "Oh, yea, very much so."  
  
"Like the one I'm getting too..." Molly whispered slyly, then pounced on Amara, pinning her up against the headboard, and staring down into her eyes, "I like this too."  
  
"Me too..." Amara whispered, tracing a hand along Molly's bare back. She glanced over at her table by her bed, and yelped at the sight of her alarm clock, shoving Molly off of her a little too hard, throwing her to the opposite side of the bed, "It's NOON!?"  
  
Molly cried, catching herself before she fell clear off of the bed, "Yeah. So?"  
  
Amara groaned, and slapped her forehead. Molly was more like Serena than she could have dreamed. And now she was getting the laziness disease...  
  
  
  
Ami, Mina, and Lita ran together to the Temple, surprisingly silly, considering how the atmosphere should have been. Maybe they, like Serena, didn't want to face the real world. When they hit the steps just below the Temple, they met up with Darien who was just parking his motorcycle. "Hey girls, what's the big rush?"  
  
"Rei called each of us, screaming that we were late. Didn't she call you too?" Mina snorted, crossing her arms, and glaring at Artemis started to make fun of her for oversleeping.  
  
"No, I haven't been home... Serena told me what happened to you guys, and I couldn't just stay at home. So I came over here, to meet her."  
  
A loud baw of many birds made the four of them forget their little conversation, and a scream... Rei's scream, made them go running up the stairs.  
  
"GET THEM OFF!" Rei screamed, batting at a mass of black feathers, with a broom, not succeeding in her efforts. When the other tried to get closer, the birds would momentarily part from Rei, and scratch at them, then go back to their original prey. From the little that the others could see, Rei was pretty cut up, and her robes torn. "HELP!!"  
  
At her last scream, Darien growled, and ran at the girl, grabbing at birds, and trying to throw them at the ground. He didn't even stop when one pecked him right by his eye, just kept grabbing and throwing, stepping on the evil birds when he could manage to. But as hard as he tried, there seemed to just be more and more of the birds, like they were multiplying...  
  
After what seemed like an endless fight, the birds just suddenly swooped off, and flew into the sky, screaming and cawing. Even the ones who's spines Darien had broken managed to get up and fly to their hellish group.  
  
There lay Rei... panting, bleeding... one of her eyes swollen shut. One of her hands was so pecked up, you could see bone sticking out in some parts. Darien wasn't looking too bad, save for a few scratches and the peck by his eye.  
  
"REI!" The girls screamed, rushing to their friend's side. None of them knew what to do, and they all didn't really understand why they stood back and watched...  
  
Ami, after had watching her mother so much, and pouring through her medical books, started to rip up Rei's robes, to make some temporary bandages. She quickly tied up the worst bleeding wounds of the two injured ones, stuffing extra cloth where the bleeding was pretty bad, "CALL AN AMBULANCE, YOU TWO!" Ami screamed at Lita and Mina who were just standing there, watching. They ran off quickly, into Rei's room, both screaming into the phone, presumably. Or maybe they were just screaming their heads off hysterically for fun.  
  
"Ami... Look..." Darien whispered, while the blue haired girl tended to Rei's wounds still. She looked up towards where he was pointing... the sky. There, was a man... moreso a boy... with not quite fully human features. And instead of arms, he had long slick black wings. He grinned, showing off jagged and most likely, by the look of it, very sharp teeth. He was naked, from what Ami could see, but she wasn't really interested, seeing as his skin seemed to be moving and shifting under and on top of itself.  
  
"What is that..." Ami mumbled, staring still. The creature above them suddenly screamed, and flew up from sight, it's gaze facing towards the steps of the Temple. Where Serena was standing, with Amara and Molly behind her. "Hey Ami, Darien... I... What the hell?" Serena whispered, her eyes dropping to the sight of Rei, "What happened!?"  
  
"Attacked... By that thing..." Darien muttered, getting to his feet, and walking to his beloved, wrapping an arm around her shoulder.  
  
"You're hurt..." Serena whimpered, kissing below the cut on Darien's face.  
  
"I'll be fine... Rei... Rei! AMI! What's going on?"  
  
The entire group outside gathered around to watch, as Rei shuddered, and screamed at the top of her lungs. Her back arched up, so her stomach was high up in the air, and then she began to float up off of the ground. Ami backed up quickly on her knees, smacking into Lita and Mina who had just come out of Rei's room. None of them knew what to say or do, just staring in disbelief as one of their comrades floated there, screaming and shaking like nothing they had seen before. "NOOOOO!!!!!!" Rei screamed, as her back began to fold the wrong way, then finally snapped completely back, so her head was touching the backs of her legs. She was dead, just like that...  
  
"REI!" "OH GOD!" "WHY DIDN'T ANY OF YOU MOVE!?" "WHY DIDN'T YOU!?!?" the other girls bickered, and screamed, while Serena and Darien continued to stare in shock, while Rei's body dropped to the ground, limp, and looking like a rag doll. Her good eye wide open, stuck in a state of shock, and incredible pain.  
  
"Rei.............." Serena whispered, then threw herself at Darien, burying her face into his chest, screaming and crying as loud as she could.  
  
The other girls stopped what they were doing, to finally notice what had happened to their Scout of Mars... She was dead... Dead...  
  
  
  
  
(He killed one of them... Not HER though. Stupid boy. She could be next. Why aren't you watching her yet?)  
  
"SHUT UP!" Ski screamed, very loud, and very annoyed. The voices were getting more noisy again. He heard them when the girls had been attacked by the rockstorm, and now that one of them was dead, they wouldn't let him even think any of his own thought for more than a minute or two.  
  
He leaned up against a building, and hugged his head, not caring that people were staring at him. He was used to it at home, so why not here too?  
  
A young girl, obviously one who lived there, dared walk up to him, and started to ask him questions in Japanese. He just shook his head, and shrugged, walking away. The girl stared after him, looking heart broken.  
  
He trudged off, pulling his jacket up closer to him, finally walking up to the hotel the voices directed him to. He checked in and paid in advance. Travels enduced by the voices taught him it was best to do this, less chance of having something stolen from your room.  
  
Stepping into his room, he flopped down onto the bed, glad to finally be off of his feet. The voices made him walk all over the city all night, insisting he get to know the layout, and good places to hide, or take his watch. That's what they called all of the people he had to save. A watch. Stupid name...  
  
Reaching to the bedside phone, Ski frowned at the Japanese characters on the buttons. He figured the numbers would be in the same formation as an English phone, and found he was right, when he got Lita's answering machine.  
  
(Be nice, her friend just died, we can't have her scared off.)  
  
"...just leave a message after the..." "AAH!" a crashing sound... "SERENA!" "Sorry Lita!" BEEEEEEEP!!  
  
"Uh... hey Lita. This is Ski. You know, the uh... guy from the airport? I'm here at the... Sunnytime Hotel... I'm not sure of the address, maybe you could find it in a phonebook? My room is number 12. Please call me back."  
  
(Smooth, real smooth...)  
  
"Shut up..." Ski hated it when the voices pretended to be funny. Or maybe it was funny to them. Whatever, he still hated it.  
  
Sleep...  
  
Sleep...  
  
Restless, dreamless, but sleep.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~  
  
_; I wish I had voices in my head that I could have fights with! ^_^ Erp... well... Rei's dead... Now what? Uhm... Other stuff's gonna happen! Oh betcha by golly, it is! WHAT's gonna happen? Er... _;;;;;; Eh hehehe, now I guess you have a reason to keep on reading, no? ^_^ 


	6. A date at a time like this?

Author's Notes : Blah dee blah blah. :D I got more reviews. HOORAH! Here you go, more story. And yes... Rei's really dead... errrr... Hm hm hm. Oh, and I like the fact I can pull of being funny and serious at once? ^-^; Dah dah dah... well, enough of this... oh, and I STILL don't own Sailor Moon, but Ski's my BITCH! *cracks a whip* I think Sailor Talitha just might be Sailor Uranus' bitch though... doot dah doot... ^_^  
  
~~~~~~~~~  
  
When the ambulances finally came, the attendees didn't seem to believe the girls story. Why would they? It was worse that they didn't seem to SEE what really happened. Did she fall out a tree, was she lifting something heavy and it fell on top of her, did someone hit her across the back with a baseball bat? No, no, no. Her back was snapped in two! Why didn't they see that? Why didn't they notice the blood pouring out of her? It wasn't hard to miss. When one of the drivers went to check for dialation in Rei's eyes, they bothered to check BOTH, even though one was obviously not open. Something was wrong...  
  
They carted off her broken and bloody body away, presumably to another larger temple, to be disposed of, as was stated in her will. The others couldn't believe she had a will... maybe they should think of writing up some themselves...  
  
"NO! We're not going to die! Rei just... she's more careful..." Serena cried, while the group just sat around on the lawn of the Temple. "No more of us... no more..."  
  
None of them had the heart to go against their slowly falling apart princess, so they just nodded and silently parted ways. Eventually it was only Darien and Serena sitting on the grass, under a quickly darkening sky. "Darien..."  
  
"Serena?"  
  
"Don't die... Please?"  
  
What could he say to that... "Not today..."  
  
  
  
Much as the girls preferred the thought of being together, they also realized they needed to be apart for a time. To think... To prepare... To cry...  
  
Lita, with her alone time, decided to cook. Not just a little, she used pretty much anything that was cookable in her entire kitchen, and pantry, and when that was all gone, she went looking for a store that would be open late at night.  
  
"Hmph... So what if it's almost..." Lita muttered while eyeballing her watch, "2 in the morning... ACK, HEY WATCH WHERE YOU'RE........ Airport guy?"  
  
Ski had unintentionally met up with Lita, slamming into her in the process. "Er... uh... hey... Lita, right?"  
  
"OH gosh... I'm sorry, I totally forgot about you..." Lita mumbled, fixing her ponytail, and looking down at her grubby looking clothes. Hopefully he didn't notice the splatters too much...  
  
"I'm used to it. Uh... Why are you out so late?"  
  
"I could ask you the same..."  
  
Ski blinked and laughed, "Still used to being in my timezone. It's like afternoon for me right now."  
  
Lita laughed too, almost acting like she had forgotten what had happened earlier, "Well, since neither of us seems to be in any rush for sleep... want to help me go look for an open store? I... I feel like cooking some things, and I can't find a damn place open."  
  
(Take her out somewhere, offer to pay... You stupid boy. Get close. Fast.)  
  
"Shut... uh... er, sure, let's go." Ski laughed again, nervously, rubbing at the back of his head.  
  
Lita squinted one eye, looking at the poor guy like he was insane, but followed after him anyway. She was kind of surprised that he seemed to know where he was going, "Have you been here before?"  
  
"Huh? No... I mean, I looked around here yesterday night. To see what I might be able to do, and stuff." He didn't know how to explain how he REALLY knew where a lot of things were, so these weird lies would have to work... "Uhm, I know this great little café... I didn't really stay there too long yesterday, but it looked good. Wanna go? I'll pay..."  
  
Lita's eyes grew wide, and she clung onto one of Ski's arms, looking like a starstruck loon. It had been a while since she had a boyfriend, so getting treated to anything was like a dream come true to her. The thought of Rei's horrible death just seemed a dream... a faded forgotten dream... Maybe that's all it really was..?  
  
Ski watched Lita, and walked her down to the café he had found. He really DID like it, but the voices wouldn't let him go there alone before. Now they were pretty quiet, except for that little... suggestion earlier. Good sign, good sign, that meant he was doing something right.  
  
"Wow... I've never seen this place before... I wonder how that's possible..." Lita whispered, while taking in the sight, and smell of the place Ski brought her to. It was a small place, probably not with a higher capacity than 10, maybe 15. The outside was painted a light blue-gray, with little flower and vine designs trailing all over the place. Really cute. That was the name, 'Really Cute'... strange. Oh well.  
  
The odd pair stepped in, and amazingly the place was fairly busy, even though not many people were out on the actual streets. A cute waitress girl, who didn't look much older than 12, gave the two a couple of menus, and pointed them toward the little bar in the place, where 5 or 6 stools were. She giggled and bounced off to some backroom, if that's what was behind the curtain she opened and slipped through, pulling down the skirt of her uniform as she went.  
  
"Weird..." Ski muttered, crawling up onto a stool, and looking over his menu. Unfortunately, it was all in Japanese. He frowned, and looked at Lita, who seemed to be having trouble with her menu too, "Something wrong?"  
  
"Mine's all in some weird language... I don't understand it..." Lita shoved the menu under Ski's nose, whining.  
  
He took it from her, and sighed, it was Japanese too. But... wouldn't she understand it, or at least recognize it?  
  
"Are you ready to order!?" the girl who gave them their menus squealed from behind them.  
  
"Ah... er... do you have any specials today?" Ski blushed, realizing that the girl reminded him of a girl he once had a crush on in school.  
  
"Oh yes sir! You betcha by golly. Today's special is coffee milk and triple chocolate cookies! A fresh batch is in the oven right now."  
  
Lita hid her face behind a hand, while laughing at the girl's perkiness, and probably at Ski's sudden shyness.  
  
"Er... Sure, we'll take two." Ski mumbled, handing the girl the two menus back.  
  
The girl skipped back to the space behind the curtain, leaving the two alone again, to talk...  
  
"So... Lita. Uhm..."  
  
"You're not a great conversationalist, are you? Geez, I don't even remember your name..."  
  
"Ski. Skipper, whatever."  
  
"Right, well Ski. If you wanna hang out some more, so we can get rid of that little nervous streak of your's, maybe you could come hang out with me and my friends... I... think..." Lita's eyes glazed over, suddenly remembering what had happened to Rei. "They'd, really like you..."  
  
(GET HER OUT OF THERE! NO TIME FOR LISTENING TO SOB STORIES! GET OUT!!)  
  
"AAH!!!..." Ski grabbed his head, while the voices screamed at the top of their lungs, or whatever it is that disembodied voices have.  
  
Lita just stared as Ski fell off of his stool. None of the other patrons of the little place seemed to notice what was going on, and even the little waitress girl didn't notice, while she stepped over the shuddering heap that was Ski. She set two platters of food and drink onto the bar, then went back behind the curtain, all the while oblivious to Ski's situation.  
  
"Are you okay!?" Lita squeaked, dropping to the floor, and helping Ski back up onto his stool, even though he was shaking like a leaf, and looking real pale. The voices never usually SCREAMED at him like that.  
  
(Get out... OUT OUT OUT! RUN STUPID!)  
  
"AAAH!! LITA! Let's... let's..."  
  
(GO NOW!!)  
  
"AAAAAAAH, let's go!"  
  
Lita stared blankly, but followed after Ski, while he ran out of the place, still clawing at the sides of his head, looking like he was trying to rip his own face off. He ran untril he slammed into a building across the street, and fell to the ground, shuddering and staring up at Lita, who looked horrified.  
  
What the hell is going on... Ski wondered to himself. The voices started to fade, like an echo. He looked past the girl in front of him, and just stared as the place they were in erupted into flames. This was new.  
  
"Hello..? What..." Lita whispered, then turned around to see the inferno raging behind them. None of the other customers, nor the waitress girl seemed in any rush to get out though. Through the one large window, she could see some customers still sipping their tea, while their clothes and skin burned up.  
  
A few random people, mostly street walkers and weird gothic kids, who walked by didn't seem to notice what was going on. Another attack, by whatever had been attcking them earlier.  
  
"You... you knew... how!?" Lita screamed, grabbing Ski by his shirt collar, and dragging him up against the wall he was slumped up against.  
  
"I... I... I can't..."  
  
(TELL HER!)  
  
"AAAH... There's voices who tell me to do things, to save people... I was sent here to protect you, you and... your princess. I don't know why. I didn't even know there were princesses over here. I thought that was just an England thing. Oh christ, don't kill me..."  
  
Lita just stared, loosening her grip a bit, so the poor guy's feet weren't dangling above the ground anymore.  
  
"I... Can we PLEASE go somewhere where THAT isn't going on!?" Ski whined, pointing at the café that was still burning strong.  
  
"I guess..." Lita sighed, dropping him completely, and crossing her arms, "How do I know you're not the one who's trying to kill us? Why should I trust you?"  
  
"Do you really want more of you to die?"  
  
"..."  
  
"Well?"  
  
"FINE... Whatever. Come on, let's go to Ami's house..."  
  
The pair walked silently, except for when Ski would scream as the voices ripped through his head. Lita eventually got used to the sound, wincing just a bit each time.  
  
  
~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Feh, wanna write more, but I think it'll be too long, so I'm just going to have what happens next be in the 7th part. :D I liked this one... Ski got to show his 'heroic' side, even if he just ran like hell cuz he's scared of the voices. HAHA... *snerk* Poor Ski. Yarr... why are they going to Ami's house? Duh, she's the official 'smart one'... :P She'll figure it out! RAH! Psht, like I'd let this get simple... AH HAHAHA! ^_^ Oooosa... music from Spirited away... *dances around in circles* 


	7. Totally tubular

Author's notes : Like, BLAH bebe, BLAAAAAH!! Still don't own Sailor Moon, but I DO seem to have a lot of music from SM on my comp... hmm... inspiration? Obsession? Durr? Whatever. :D Ski and the never seen Sailor Talitha are mine... so there. Nyah nee haha. :P!!  
  
~~~~~~~~  
  
Ski wondered why the voices didn't warn him about actually going into the café... Maybe they wanted him to see what would happen? Maybe they were trying to kill him... Heh, he wouldn't be surprised, especially with the way they treated him. He accepted them, kind of like a younger brother would accept an older sibling's punishment... More just dealing with it, than anything.  
  
"Are we lost?" Ski yawned, looking around at the seemingly similar surroundings.  
  
"Huh? No... we..." Lita stopped dead in her tracks, and looked around. Things didn't look right... All the houses seemed to be off. She couldn't put her finger on it, but they looked strange. Then it hit her, they were moving! "What the hell is going on?"  
  
As the two stood in the middle of the street, which light was just starting to touch, the houses and other buildings around them started to grow weird tubes and pipes. Everything was pure white, almost institutional-like. They just stood and stared as the changes took place, but finally moved when the ground beneath them started to move.  
  
(RUN! STUPID! RUN RUN! GRAB HER AND RUN!!)  
  
"AAAH! SHUT UP!... Lita, let's go, NOW!" Ski screamed, scooping up Lita in his arms, which was pretty amazing, especially to him, who had never lifted anything heavier than a few bags of groceries before.  
  
Lita just stared over Ski's shoulder, as the part of the road they were standing on had a long curving pipe twist up out of it, and slam itself into one of the creepy buildings. It made a horrible screeching sound, as it seemed to join with the other strange creation. Ski ignored the noise, used to hearing things he didn't want to hear, but Lita slapped her hands over her ears, whining a bit.  
  
(Stop.)  
  
Ski stopped, and looked around. That wasn't one of the usual voices... or was it, and he never heard it before? He set down Lita, and looked back. The pipes and tubes continued to move, but they were quite far away from them by now.  
  
"We have to find the others... I have a feeling this isn't some sort of construction work..." Lita muttered, staring in the same direction as Ski.  
  
"Yea... Where first?"  
  
Lita scratched the back of her head, not quite sure. She looked up at a street sign that they were near, and sighed, "Well, we're closest to Amara and Molly, so we might as well head to their house, and call everyone else from there."  
  
"Sounds good." Ski held out an arm for Lita, who looked kind of surprised, but slipped a hand into the welcoming hook.  
  
  
  
"AMARA! WAKE UP!"  
  
Amara screamed and flew out of the bed, taking a handful of sheets with her, "WHAT!?"  
  
"Amara... how can you sleep!? Can't you hear that noise!?" Molly screamed, her hands on her hips, and a glare on her face. She, unlike her partner, was already fully dressed.  
  
Amara muttered something, and crawled over to her closet, digging out some clothes from the floor, and halfmindedly tossing them on, "What is that..."  
  
"I don't know, I would have gone to look, but I thought you wouldn't want me going alone..." Molly lowered her gaze, hoping that her thoughts were right.  
  
Before she could get a response, a loud banging came from their door. When neither of them made a move to go answer, screams from Lita and Ski made them both move fast.  
  
Amara got to the door first, and swung it open, with the other two bursting in, rambling and making little to no sense.  
  
"WHOA! HEY! Slow down you two!" Amara yelping, grabbing them both by the back's of their shirts, "And who are you?"  
  
Ski blushed and hushed down quickly, "Ski, uh... I met Lita at the airport... Uhm..."  
  
"He was sent here to help us, supposedly. He hears voices, and they tell him what to do, he's saved my life twice in the past few hours." Lita piped in, with a grin. This made Ski blush a lot more.  
  
"What's going on out there you guys?" Molly asked, leaning against a wall of the hallway.  
  
While Lita and Ski tried to explain what they saw to the girls, Amara just glared at the boy, not too sure about his credability, but it would be tested soon enough, she supposed.  
  
"So can we use your phone?" Ski asked, running a hand through his ponytail, looking really tired all of a sudden.  
  
"Huh... Sure. There's one in the kitchen, just through there." Amara pointed, then looked to the other girls, "We'll be in the living room if you need us. Why do you need the phone?"  
  
"Have to call the others. You wouldn't happen to have their phone numbers, would you? This might be easier if one of you guys did it, no one knows me..."  
  
Amara sighed, and groaned, rubbing her temple, "I'll do it then. You guys just sit in the living room, and don't break anything!"  
  
While the eldest of the group went to make her calls, the others congregated in the living room, sprawled out on the sofa there.  
  
"Where are you from?" Molly asked Ski, just watching him.  
  
"Uh... Doesn't matter... I just have to be here, and help you guys..."  
  
Molly just nodded, looking rejected.  
  
"Mina's on her way here, same with Ami. Darien's bringing Serena over, apparently they had a sleepover." Amara rolled her eyes, while she walked into the living room, and threw herself into a chair. None of the other girls bothered to ask if she had made the mistake of calling Rei... Though they were sure they would have, if it was them.  
  
(She's in danger. Don't let her go home.)  
  
"Wha..." Ski blinked, and looked around. The voices had been quiet for a while, and he almost forgot what it was like to not hear them, that rarely happened on cases like this.  
  
"What's wrong with you kid?" Amara snorted, staring at the boy she didn't trust.  
  
"Voices..." Ski shrugged.  
  
A knock at the door managed to stop more questions, for the time being, and the entire group got up and went to the door, except for Ski, who just stared at the carpet, poking at a small hole in his jeans.  
  
Serena and Darien were there, with the both of them panting, looking horribly out of breath. With a quick look outside, the others could see why. A flock of creepy looking children were running up and down the street, throwing things at random passersby. Eventually after a few runs, they went running all the way down the street, to where Ski and Lita had been attacked earlier.  
  
Before the door could be closed, Mina and Ami came running up, even though they weren't being attacked by freak children. Though, they had seen them, and didn't trust that they weren't coming back.  
  
"What's going on!? My house is down there!" Serena shrilled, trying to break from Darien's grasp.  
  
(Don't let her go. She's the one. Protect her.)  
  
Ski sighed, and looked up at his latest watch. She looked so young... So innocent. How could she be a princess? As usual, he couldn't ask questions, he just had to accept it... "Princess. I'm here to protect you, and I've been told to not let you go home."  
  
"YOU! YOU WERE THAT CREEPY GUY!" Serena growled, and lunged for Ski, finally breaking loose from Darien.  
  
Ski made a small squeaking sound when Serena slammed into him, and sent him flying through the glass table that was located right behind him. Serena started to scream and cry at once, slapping and clawing at poor Ski, who didn't understand what he did wrong.  
  
It took Darien, Amara, and Lita to pry Serena off of Ski, who was at that point, bleeding in a few places, both from the broken glass, and Serena's attack. He just laid there, staring up at the girl, wondering why he had to protect her, she seemed like she could handle herself damn well.  
  
"I was sent to protect you..." Ski whispered, while trying to get up, cutting his hands when pushing himself up.  
  
Ami, at the sight of more blood, started to cry. She was the one who tried to fix Rei's wounds, after all...  
  
Ski sighed, "Don't cry... watch..."  
  
(What are you doing, boy? How do you know...)  
  
"Shut up... god damn voices..." Ski grumbled, closing his eyes, and forming his hands into tight fists. Right in front of the others, all of his wounds healed, and the blood stopped flowing all over his clothes. No one said a single thing, and even the voices seemed to be silenced, for once.  
  
"What are you..." Amara whispered, just staring at this strange boy.  
  
"Doesn't matter. I want to help you. Will you PLEASE let me?"  
  
The rest just nodded their heads slowly, staring in disbelief, normally the only things sent to them were things meant to cause more harm...  
  
"I want to go home..." Serena sobbed, hugging herself.  
  
"You can't." Ski crossed his arms, staring at his watch.  
  
"OH YEA!? Just watch me!" Serena screamed, running out the still open door, and into the street.  
  
Ski pushed by the group, and raced after the girl, but somehow, she was faster than him, and managed to make her way to her house... or what was left of it. It had been transformed into one of the strange white plastic tube houses. Serena screamed, and ran up to the front door, which was probably the only thing that looked the same, and started to kick at it, when it wouldn't open normally.  
  
A group of scary kids with white hair and red eyes, who were all naked, and sexless... decided to walk up to the blonde having troubles. "You shouldn't go in there..."  
  
"Shut up, I'll do what I want. It's my house!" Serena screamed, looking like she was going insane. As she prepared to slam the door with her shoulder, Ski slipped his arms around her waist, and picked her up off of the ground. She screamed again, and started to kick and punch at him, but he just took it all, not wanting to fight her.  
  
"I told you not to..." Ski whispered, sounding like he was talking to a child.  
  
"What did they do to my house!? MY FAMILY!? Everything was okay, and then I saw you, this is YOUR fault!" Serena sobbed, but at least she stopped fighting.  
  
Ski sighed, and carried the girl into the street, dodging and slipping around the many tubes that seemed to still be growing out of the ground, only smaller now.  
  
The others ran up together, staring at the boy with their princess in his arms. Darien quickly took her away, holding her close, while she cried and shook, mumbling nonsense.  
  
(Everyone inside is dead. Tell her.)  
  
"They're dead, Princess... everyone..." Ski whispered, keeping his gaze away from any of them.  
  
This of course, just threw Serena into hysterics, and she ripped herself from Darien's grasp again, running into the house. Ski just stood there, and let her do it. Maybe that was the slap in the face she needed to stop acting like this.  
  
~~~~~~~~~  
  
Gaw. I've been leaving this sitting to rot too long. Time to get back into the swing of things. :P Liking this now kids? Someone else might die... ^_^ Whee! DEATH! YUMMY! 


	8. Ribbons

Editor's Junk (feh) : Stiiiiiiiiiiill don't own Sailor Mooooooon... Ski and Sailor Talitha (who should show up sooner or later... o_O) are still mine though. I'm sorry this took so long to come out!! Gaaah. This is what happens when I get writers block. And then get run out of my place by a psychopathic roomie. And... a bunch of other random excuses... x_X  
~~~~~~~~~~  
Serena beat down the door, while the sexless albino children sang a song in gibberish, or maybe just their own language. When Serena finally broke down the door, she saw why she couldn't open it... there were pipes and tubes there, and she had broken a few of them. They were oozing some horrible green liquid, which she didn't stop to investigate. She ran through the house, dodging more pipes, and nearly falling down the stairs a few times. When she reached her parents room, a scream tore through the entire house, onto the street, onto her friend's ears. None of them had moved... again.  
  
(Up. Look up. NOW STUPID! LOOK!!)  
  
Ski flicked his eyes upwards, and saw a dark form floating there. He turned his face up completely, and there was the odd winged boy, the one the girls had seen earlier... after... Rei... One by one, the others looked up at the creature, who started to make a wailing-scream sound, that sort of sounded like really deranged laughter. It fell straight down into a hole in a tube, and the group watched as a dark shadow moved through it, straight towards Serena's house. Ski growled, and ran inside the house, wondering why none of the others would do ANYTHING! He tripped over a tube, but quickly regained his balance. A run up the stairs, and a turn to the left, and there she was. The Princess. Her earth parents stabbed to death by dozens of tubes. They were halfway off of their bed, looking like they were floating, only with tubes through their middles, and chests, and even their faces... Serena was curled up on the floor, shaking hard, pale as a ghost.   
  
(WELL!?)  
  
Ski groaned, and scooped the wobbling mess up in his arms, charging for the staircase. When he reached the top landing, something shot out at him from behind. He didn't take time to inspect it, but from what he saw, it looked like a long wide black ribbon. Running and dodging bars and pipes wasn't the easiest task, especially while carrying a moaning shuddering girl, but eventually Ski made his way back out on the street. He shoved Serena into Darien's arms again, and just stared at the others, amazed that they were pretty much standing exactly the same way as they had been when he ran inside.  
  
"What's WRONG with you all? Your Princess could have DIED in there, and none of you moved! I'm here to HELP, not to do everything!!"  
  
None of the others knew what was stopping them, but a familiar odd sounding laugh made them move this time. The winged creature swooped out of what was left of Serena's front door, and landed on the front yard. The strange sexless children started to gather around it, grabbing at the ribbony things that were protruding from it's body. One unlucky child started to scream, as one of these ribbons wrapped around it's throat. The winged boy looked at the child, and the ribbon rose, lifting the child up by it's neck, a few more ribbons shooting out from the skin of the creature. Mina moaned, and started to throw up, right in the street, with Ami rubbing her back, but still staring at what was happening.  
  
The stray ribbons grabbed the kid's limbs, and twisted around them so tight, that the group could see blood start to drip out from under the ribbons. Then the ribbons suddenly twisted, so quick and roughly, ripping the child into pieces, as if it were a doll. Blood splattered all along the side of what was once Serena's home, ruining the perfect white walls and tubing. Lita and Molly joined Mina in her throwing up, while the rest managed to just stare in shock at the creature... realizing what it could do to them now.  
  
While it seemed like an eternity, it was only a matter of seconds, between the first appearance of the creature from the house, and the ripping apart of the child.  
  
(MOVE IT! GET THEM OUT OF THERE! They're not quick to move, so SHOW THEM! WATER!!... TAKE THEM TO THE WATER!!)  
  
Ski screamed, and grabbed his head. The voices had been quiet all of a few minutes, and then attacked from no where. "Water, where's water here!?"  
  
"The beach?" Amara mumbled, looking dazed.  
  
"Let's go!" Ski screamed, while the voices yelled at him some more, sounding like gibberish, as they fell over on each other.  
  
The not nausiated ones of the group grabbed up the sick ones, and dragged them down the street, to a bus stop. A bus was waiting there, which was very lucky... maybe too lucky?  
  
Ski looked back at Serena's house, and there was nothing there. Nothing. No children, no boy with wings for arms... No body parts... But there was blood, lots of blood. More than there should have been, it seemed. He got into the bus with the others, but seemed to be the only one to notice the lack of driver. "FUCK! Can any of you drive one... of... Oh, nevermind..." Ski scanned the faces of the others, and could tell none of them were in any condition to ride a tricycle, let alone drive a huge bus. He slipped into the driver's seat, and tried to figure out the controls, when the voices sprang into action again, telling him what to do. At least they could be of some help sometimes...  
  
While the girls, and Darien attended to each other, comforting and such, the voices in Ski's head directed him not to a beach, but to a forest with a lake. He laughed, figuring the group probably wouldn't be able to tell the difference anyway...  
  
(Get down to the water. Go on. The cats, get the cats.)  
  
The voice... It was the calm one. The new one. He didn't understand where it came from, but he didn't care... as long as it didn't scream at him... "Do you guys have any cats?"  
  
The group pretty much sat unmoving, while Ski parked the bus up alongside an abandoned looking pier. It looked all wrong... there were boats that were half untied, and fishing items tossed around sporatically. Kids toys littered an area where a blanket was threatening to be swept away with a light wind that had begun to pick up. The sky was starting to get dark a lot quicker than it should have been, especially considering it couldn't even be close to noon, even. The woodsy area looked dark and scary... the type of place that silly kids would probably dare each other to go into. The water itself looked strange, but Ski couldn't pinpoint exactly what was wrong...  
  
A tug at his pantleg made Ski drop out of his thoughts, and look at the intrusion... the black cat, the one that there were pictures of in the Princess' house. "Er... Hello cat..."  
  
"The name is Luna, thank you very much."  
  
".........."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Nothing, it's not like things could get any worse... a talking cat... hmph."  
  
"Cats..." Artemis' voice whispered, wandering up from Mina's side. He was really worried about her, she wasn't looking too good, at all.  
  
Ski just blinked, and stared at the two cats sitting at his feet, "Uh... Well... The voices told me I need you two... so... Come outside with me?"  
  
Luna and Artemis slunk down the steps of the bus, and gracefully walked out onto the dry earth before them, while Ski tripped and nearly fell flat on his face. Lita had crawled up behind him when he wasn't looking, and had grabbed onto his ankle. He glared and grabbed onto a railing on the one of the sides, to maintain some sort of balance, "WHAT are you doing?"  
  
"Take me with you... All of us... wait... Please..?" Lita moaned, rubbing at her raw throat.  
  
Cringing at the sight of the girl he had been out on a sort of date with a few hours earlier, Ski started to feel really bad. Not really for the group, but more for the girl he left behind... Though, she had been lost many trips ago... If the voices hadn't have shown up, he might be having a semi-normal life, instead of having some vomit encrusted Japanese girl clinging to his leg. "Fine, but hurry up, I don't think time's really something we have a lot of at this point."  
  
A high pitched scream from the back of the bus made everyone sober up quickly, followed by the sound of glass shattering. The scream grew louder, that of Mina. There were black ribbons wrapped all around her body, squeezing her tight, much like a group of boa constrictors might. The ribbons, carrying Mina along with them, flew out of the bus, through a too small hole in the window, shattering the glass more with Mina's impact on it, and ultimately smashing her back like a twig, when she connected with the metal parts around the window. Her body crunched up, so her face was in her lap. Her hair flew around, as did her arms, not a sound coming from the now horribly disfigured dead girl. The ribbons pulled again, and Mina's body went flying again, not even having had time to drop to the ground.  
  
"NO MORE! YOU BASTARD! GIVE HER BACK!!" Serena screamed, as high pitched as she could. Before anyone could stop her, she had jumped out of the hole in the side of the bus, and started to run after the quickly fading image of Mina. She skidded and fell to the ground... having slipped in some of her old friend's blood. "OH GOD!"  
  
"SERENA!" Darien cried, rushing towards the fallen girl, while the others behind him started to all finally transform into the Sailor Scouts. Ski just watched in amazement, realizing who these girls were, at last. Why the hell didn't the voices tell him he was dealing with super heros? He wasn't ANYTHING! Just a guy with stupid voices in his head... and... well... a few other things he had started to learn... but he was still nothing compared to them.  
  
"Supreme... Diabolic... Moon... Transformation... POWER!!" Serena screamed, through deep breathes. Darien fell backwards, only a few inches away from his beloved, watching as she changed drastically.  
  
Serena's eyes flashed wide open, changing from their normally bright looking blue colour, to a deep blood red. Her hair fell from it's odd design, into just straight flowing hair... the ends being turned into a deep red, making it look as though half of her blonde hair had been soaked in blood.  
  
Lita, Amara and Ami, who had all been watching Molly's own strange transformation, quickly moved their gaze to Serena, who was turning into something... something evil.  
  
Her normal Scout uniform formed itself onto her now naked body, only where it should have been white, it looked like it was drenched in blood, darker red in some places than others. A scream tore through her, as two sets of triwings broke through the skin of her shoulders, torn and bloody wings. She started to laugh insanely, as she turned to look at the others, both of her eyes looking as if someone had punched her. "Let's finish this..." She whispered, after stopping her bizarre laughter.  
  
(The cats. Touch them.)  
  
Ski snapped out of what felt like a trance at the sound of the voice, and grabbed Luna and Artemis up into his arms. A pain like he had never hoped to feel ripped through him, as he even began to change... unlike Serena and the others, it was a lot more than a change of hair and clothes.  
  
He dropped the cats, who stared at him in horror, not understanding what was happening, or why his touching them caused it. Ski cried, as his muscles and even his bones started to twist and contract inside of him, bending and causing him horrible pain. The entire transformation lasted maybe an entire minute, but it felt like forever. Then it was over... there, in Ski's place, lay a large, shaking tabby cat. The fur on his head was still long, and even still held up by it's ponytail, but the rest of his clothing was scattered on the ground around him.  
  
"Gosh..." Sailor Talitha mumbled, in a voice that wasn't really her own.  
  
Struggling to his new paws, the Ski cat didn't have much time to adjust to his new body, and he knew it. Flicking an ear as far back as this new form would allow, Ski threw his head back, and cried out, "LOOK OUT!" The ribbony creature that had now caused the deaths of two of the Scouts was back for more. It was hovering a good twenty feet above the crowd, a hint of red swirling around under it's bizarre oily skin. Quite possibly the blood that it had extracted from it's victims.  
  
No one knew which direction to exactly move in, since the creature wasn't really moving, but they all started to make their way closer to the water. It was Ami who first saw what the water held... Rows upon rows of jagged spikes. Not sharp rocks, rocks don't look like they're made from metal... "GET BACK GUYS! It's not safe here!" Ami screamed, while a ribbon from the creature swooped down. Heading right for Luna.  
  
Ski, still not really sure of how to use his new body, lunged at Luna, in an attempt to knock her out of the way. Instead he threw her and himself over the pier they were near, and straight into the water. Luna probably didn't even get a chance to realize what was happening to her, especially as the spike drove itself through her and Ski. Little kitty inards splayed over the sharp tip of the spike, and out onto the water. Perhaps in a fit of sheer madness at the sight of seeing Luna die in such a pointless way, Artemis threw himself into the water, to be impaled on the same spike. None of the humans had a split second to really register what had just happened... Only that now there was even less of them, and their help was now gone.  
  
"UNHOLY... BLOOD... RAGE!!" Serena's voice ripped through the momentary silence that touched the area. A sea of thick bubbling sea of blood blasted from the palms of her hands, and rushed at the creature in the sky. Since it had seemed to have been taking in the sight of the dead cats, it's handiwork... it didn't even see the attack coming. The alive ones stared in awe as the entire being was absorbed in the gushing blood... waiting to see what happened to it.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
^_^ Sha blamoo! Almost done kiddies. Wheeeeeeee. Icky way for the poor kitties to die, neh? Oh well. :P Nyah haha. And poor Mina. Oh well some more. Mree hee hee. I have no feelings. I'm a cruel individual. Run away!... Wait, come back and review, please? *bats eyelashes* 


End file.
